This is my attempt at having an ongoing conversation about the Word of God, life and ministry - especially thoughts on the daily lectionary and the movement of the Spirit of God at Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church (although everything contained herein is strictly my own thoughts and not the view of GSPC) or something like that

Sunday, November 4, 2012

Who Approved your message?

Below is the message (including scriptures) I shared with Good Shepherd on Sunday Nov. 4th. It was not originally my plan or intention to talk 'about' the election this Sunday, but over the course of the week, I felt a real call to share these thoughts - maybe it was the robocall from Matt Damon . . . . anyway here it is

Matthew 22:34-40 (Today's New International Version)

34Hearing that Jesus had
silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together.35One of them, an expert in
the law, tested him with this question:36"Teacher, which is
the greatest commandment in the Law?" 37Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart
and with all your soul and with all your mind.'[a]38This is the first and
greatest commandment.39And the second is like it:
'Love your neighbor as yourself.'[b]40All the Law and the
Prophets hang on these two commandments."

2 Corinthians 3 (The Message)

1-3Does it sound like we're patting ourselves on the back, insisting
on our credentials, asserting our authority? Well, we're not. Neither do we
need letters of endorsement, either to you or from you. You yourselves are all the endorsement we need. Your very lives are a
letter that anyone can read by just looking at you. Christ himself wrote it—not
with ink, but with God's living Spirit; not chiseled into stone, but carved
into human lives—and we publish it.

Deuteronomy 6:4-9 (The Message)

4Attention, Israel! God, our God!Godthe one and only! 5LoveGod, your God, with your whole heart:
love him with all that's in you, love him with all you've got!

6-9Write these commandments
that I've given you today on your hearts. Get them inside of you and then get
them inside your children. Talk about them wherever you are, sitting at home or
walking in the street; talk about them from the time you get up in the morning
to when you fall into bed at night. Tie them on your hands and foreheads as a
reminder; inscribe them on the doorposts of your homes and on your city gates.

I feel like I should
begin by saying something like ‘I’m Chip Stapleton and I approved this message. But if I never hear another political ad
begin or end that way, I would be happy.

In the culminating days
of a national election it seems that everyone gets defined by who they are
voting for or what party they are in.

But the passages we just
heard from Matthew & Deuteronomy remind
us that republican, democrat or even American is not the primary way we ought
to define ourselves – rather, we are first citizens of heaven. We are Children of God and that comes with
its own set of responsibilities. The
passages detail our primary responsibilities as the people of God – as citizens
of heaven.

Simply put we are to Love God and Love people.

In the world of 24 hour
news – everything matters in an election: words, facial expressions, clothes. Everything.
Likewise, all that we do each day sends a message to the world around us.

As we go about our lives
we are sharing a message to those we meet.
What does that message look and sound like? Sometimes we are very intentional about the
message we send – and we use visual aids – like lawn signs, bumper stickers or
t-shirts. We use images to help communicate
the message we want to send

When we want to be clear
about the message we are sending we make sure to reinforce it: we use our
words, our actions and even our clothes, stickers or signs.

People then hear, read or
see the messages we send in a variety of ways and often times make judgments
about us based on the messages we send. Just like in campaigns, when it comes to the
message we send every day in life everything matters, but especially our words
and actions matter.

So the question is – do
our words and actions match up with the message that has been approved for you
by God, the simple message Jesus echoed to the Pharisee in Matthew?:

Love God

Love others

As we think about if we
are living up to the actual message we have been ‘approved’ to give. Let’s look at what this two part message from
God might look like.

Love of God - This is simply putting God first – having
your love of God and your relationship with him at the forefront of your life –
that means it has to invade every area of your life:

School

Work

Friends

Family

Even Politics

Jesus Christ has to be at the center
of all we do – the base from which all that we do begins and ends.

The way we talk has to be colored by our faith.

The way we act has to be colored by our faith.

The way we live has to be totally colored by our faith.

Love of Neighbor - This one is a
little trickier for us. It is often
easier said than done.

How are we doing in
actually loving our neighbors? Are the
conversations we have with our neighbors laced with the love of God?

What about the neighbors
that have different signs in their front yard?
Maybe we simply ignore them: What kind of love is that showing?

Jesus was clear about
this. The parable of the good Samaritan
– the famous story Jesus tells to explain who we should view as our neighbor -
is so powerful because of the back-story between the Jews and the Samaritans. They didn’t disagree about economic policy or
tax rates, they were real enemies – bitter rivals for centuries. That was not an accident or a minor element
of the story, It was the point of the story.
Jesus was saying that is the kind of love we are supposed to have for
everybody

Not ‘even’ those we
disagree with or are our ‘enemies’ but especially them. Maybe you could care less about politics but
the point is still true – you too have things you are passionate about and that
people disagree about.

There is the first place you have to make sure you allow the
love of God to invade in your life

When we identify ourselves as
Christians – by what we wear, what we say or what we do – even if it is ‘just’
by coming to church. We are putting
‘Jesus Christ approved this message’ at the beginning and end of everything we
do

There is a recent book,
based on years of work from the Barna research group about what non-Christians
think about those of us that call ourselves Christians. The book was particularly focused on 17 to 30
year olds - the ‘quote, unquote’ next
generation.

The Book, titled,
‘UnChristian’, paints a chilling picture of just what message those outside the
church see, hear and perceive from Christians.
%87 thought Christians were
judgmental. %85 felt like Christians
were hypocritical. %70 saw Christians as
insensitive to others.

At one point, the author
states: The primary reason outsiders
feel hostile toward Christians, is not because of any specific theological
perspective. . . . The growing hostility toward Christians is very much a
reflection of what outsiders feel they receive from believers. ‘Christians cannot generally live peacefully
with anyone who doesn’t believe what they believe’

The final, staggering
insight is that we, as Christians have become famous for what we oppose, rather
than what we stand for.

But is that really a
surprise –We see, not just in politics, but seemingly in all areas of our lives
that to lift myself up, I have to pull you down.

Nobody likes ‘negative’ attack politics, but it works, so
people keep doing it.

But remember, It was God
that spoke his name in the beginning of our lives – and who’s Spirit emanates
every aspect of our life and message – if we allow him to.

This way of communicating
is not the only way.

In a book written by an
Anglican priest called ‘Never Silent’ I came across a story that highlights exactly
how to live the message approved by God, even in the face of extraordinary
circumstances. In a section called, ‘I
love Idi Amin’ by an Episcopalian Bishop from Uganda –

The bishop, Festo
Kivengere writes: I had to face my own attitude towards President Amin and his
agents. The Holy Spirit showed me that I
was getting hard in my spirit, and that hardness and bitterness toward those
who were persecuting us could only bring spiritual loss. This would take away my ability to
communicate the love of God. . . . So I had to ask for forgiveness from the
Lord, and for the grace to love President Amin more . . . for he is one of
those for whom Christ shed His precious blood.
As long as he is still alive . . . Pray for him.

This is the message we have been
approved to share:

Love God, Love people

Bishop Kivengere sought,
through the power of the Holy Spirit to find love for a murderous, terrorist,
dictator of a ‘president’. He found a way
to love even the man that was directly responsible for unspeakable acts of
violence and persecution.

Kivengere sought to love
him – so that he could communicate the message he had been approved – that he
had been called to give. Love. Love God.
Love People.

Many of us spend too much
time focused on whatever our differences may be – and make no mistake we have
real differences and disagreements.

But Christ calls us to be
known and marked by our love and we can and we will – through the power of the
Holy Spirit change the message outsiders hear and see when they see us.

Democrats and
Republicans, all of us, children of God can be united in bringing one message
to the world – Love.

Love God, Love People.

Every day, everywhere you go and you will change the world in
a way no election ever could

Together, through the power of the
Holy Spirit we can change the world by spreading the message of Jesus Christ’s
saving, redeeming love to every single person we meet – starting with our
neighbor that is voting the ‘other’ way on Tuesday.

Because our primary
message and concern can’t be about taxes or jobs or the economy or anything but
Love.

The Love Christ first showed us.

The love we return to God.

The love we share with others as a
response to the transformational work of the Holy Spirit in and through us.

Love. Nothing more, but nothing less is the message
we have been approved to share.